Are you job-ready for the new normal? An interesting and accurate title for today’s workforce and classroom from the Financial Express. As an educator and lifelong learner myself, I’m always on the lookout to learn about the new skill sets in need and the resources to master them. The skills that the article mentioned include

1. Digital Marketing. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are comprised of a variety of skillsets that can overlap but still have unique skills for each of their own area. To add more fun to the mix, the variety of social media platforms combined with different demographics can be daunting to learn and navigate to reach your target audience.

2. Data Analytics. Data is an invaluable resource that organizations are looking to tap into to better understand their customers and drive them to their doors (virtual or otherwise). What’s daunting is that only approximately 20% of our data is actually in a usable format with the remaining 80% unstructured and teeming with potential information to help businesses meet new goals and reach their customers (Source: AWS Training & Certification – Data Analytics Fundamentals).
3. Creative Skills. Creativity in communication – whether it be via graphics or copy is vital to reach the intended audience to engage, excite and entice to perform a specific call to action (subscribe to a newsletter, make a purchase, etc.).
4. Language. A new language can take the form of either human or computer languages. Spanish, French, Chinese and other languages can provide great opportunities for employment as the Internet allows us to connect with the rest of the world with only a few taps on the keyboard. Additional languages that can provide value are computer languages that include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, Python, and more.
5. Graphic Design. Just like the creative skills mentioned earlier, the skill of graphic design can convey a message and call to action that is desired by the business.
6. Business Skills. The skills of entrepreneurship, marketing, financial management, project management and similar are areas that provide great value to businesses in all sizes to meet the dynamic demands and needs of their target customer.

Now that we’ve reviewed some of the in-demand skills for today’s (and tomorrow’s) workforce, let’s review how we can gain those skills. Obviously, college is one option but thanks to the Internet and organizations like Google, AWS, Harvard University and HubSpot, it’s no longer the only option.

To review the skills and resources available in the same order as introduced…

1. Digital Marketing
   • Google Skillshop provides a variety of different training and certifications that include Google Marketing, Google Ads, YouTube, and many others to build and improved digital marketing skills.
   • HubSpot Academy is a resources that provides great content and certifications for digital marketing.
2. Data Analytics
   • Google will be adding Data Analytics to their online certifications soon. In the meantime, learners can study about Google Analytics at the Google Analytics Academy or learn about a variety of data analysis skills using AWS Cloud technology on the AWS Training & Certification platform.
3. Creativity Skills
   • Creativity is a skill that comes easier to some than others but thankfully resources like HubSpot Academy and Canva Design School provide resources to develop creative visuals to encourage a specific call to action.
   • For the written word (copywriting), there are a variety of online resources to improve your skillset. The resource that I recommend personally is an ebook from A Book Apart title Writing for Designers (starting at $10)
4. Language Skills
   • The Internet is full of resources to learn a new language (both human and computer) but my personal recommendation for the computer languages is Harvard University’s CS50. CS50 is a completely free course that is taught by what many consider (myself included) the best computer science instructor out there – David Malan.
5. Graphic Design
   • Just like creativity skills, Hubspot Academy and Canva Design School can provide great resources to develop graphic design skills.
   • Figma courses provides courses focusing on UX and UI.
6. Business Skills
   • At the risk of sounding like a broken record – check out HubSpot Academy for variety resources related to entrepreneurial and business skills.
   • While not available yet at the time of this writing, Google will be releasing a Project Management certification.

To recap on resources that are either free or very minimal costs to learn these in-demand skills.

1. Google Skillshop (free)
2. HubSpot Academy (free)
3. Google Analytics Academy (free)
4. AWS Training & Certification (free)
5. Canva Design School (free)
6. A Book Apart ($10 – $25)
7. CS50 (free)
8. Figma (free)

One last resource that I recommend if you are 14 or older AND are either a teacher or a student is AWS Educate. AWS Educate is a platform designed by Amazon Web Services to teach not only cloud computing skills but also earn digital badges related to web development, learning computer languages, data analytics, and cloud computing (of course).

The career of opportunities available in the tech field are not limited to coding. There’s multiple opportunities for the designers, project managers, content writers and more. My best advise to anyone looking into entering this field is to be curious and never, ever stop learning.